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Link to original content: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17197423
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. 2007 Jan 9;104(2):565-9.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0606937104. Epub 2006 Dec 29.

The first fossil leaf insect: 47 million years of specialized cryptic morphology and behavior

Sonja Wedmann  1 , Sven Bradler, Jes Rust
Affiliations

The first fossil leaf insect: 47 million years of specialized cryptic morphology and behavior

Sonja Wedmann et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Erratum in

  • Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Feb 6;104(6):2024

Abstract

Stick and leaf insects (insect order Phasmatodea) are represented primarily by twig-imitating slender forms. Only a small percentage ( approximately 1%) of extant phasmids belong to the leaf insects (Phylliinae), which exhibit an extreme form of morphological and behavioral leaf mimicry. Fossils of phasmid insects are extremely rare worldwide. Here we report the first fossil leaf insect, Eophyllium messelensis gen. et sp. nov., from 47-million-year-old deposits at Messel in Germany. The new specimen, a male, is exquisitely preserved and displays the same foliaceous appearance as extant male leaf insects. Clearly, an advanced form of extant angiosperm leaf mimicry had already evolved early in the Eocene. We infer that this trait was combined with a special behavior, catalepsy or "adaptive stillness," enabling Eophyllium to deceive visually oriented predators. Potential predators reported from the Eocene are birds, early primates, and bats. The combination of primitive and derived characters revealed by Eophyllium allows the determination of its exact phylogenetic position and illuminates the evolution of leaf mimicry for this insect group. It provides direct evidence that Phylliinae originated at least 47 Mya. Eophyllium enlarges the known geographical range of Phylliinae, currently restricted to southeast Asia, which is apparently a relict distribution. This fossil leaf insect bears considerable resemblance to extant individuals in size and cryptic morphology, indicating minimal change in 47 million years. This absence of evolutionary change is an outstanding example of morphological and, probably, behavioral stasis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Photo (A) and line drawing (B) of holotype of fossil leaf insect E. messelensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Eocene Messel Pit, Germany (MeI 12560). a3–a10, abdominal segments 3–10; ant, antennae; cer, cerci; fl, foreleg; fw, forewing; hl, hindleg; hw, hindwing; int, intestinal tract; ml, midleg; vom, vomer.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Extant female (A) and male (B) of P. celebicum. The fossil male leaf insect has the same size as extant male P. celebicum.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Morphological details of E. messelensis gen. et sp. nov. compared with selected males of extant phasmid taxa, mainly members of Phylliinae. Basal portion of left foreleg of E. messelensis, reconstructed (A), N. adisi (B), Microphyllium spinithorax (C), Chitoniscus feedjeanus (D), and P. celebicum (E). Dorsal view of male terminal region of E. messelensis (G), ventral view of same region of Aplopus sp. (F), representing the euphasmatodean outgroup N. adisi (H), M. spinithorax (I), C. feedjeanus (J), and P. celebicum (K). cer, cercus; cx, coxa; epi, epiproct; fe, femur; par, paraproct; ph, phallic lobe; t10, abdominal tergum 10; tho, tergal thorn pad; tr, trochanter; vom, vomer.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
E. messelensis gen. et sp. nov. in evolutionary and biogeographical context. (A) Simplified cladogram with a partial geochronologic scale showing the phylogenetic position of E. messelensis and the temporal sequence of character evolution. Oldest fossil records of determined adult representatives of Timematodea and Euphasmatodea are depicted (after refs. –10). M, Messel fossil site; B, Baltic Amber. Dating of splitting events of crown-group Phasmatodea is unknown. Euphasmatodea represent an unknown number of lineages. Figures are not to scale. (B) Distribution of extant and fossil leaf insects. Distribution of extant species mainly follow data from ref. , with amendments from ref. .
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